Virtual license documents

ABSTRACT

Exemplary methods, systems, and products are described for creating a virtual license document for material subject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’). Embodiments include identifying a licensing clause for the virtual license document; creating metadata describing the licensing clause; and inserting in a markup document the licensing clause and the metadata describing the clause. Identifying a licensing clause for the virtual license document may be carried out by identifying a known licensing clause in an existing end-user license agreement (‘EULA’) in dependence upon licensing clause identification rules. Identifying a known clause in an existing end-user license agreement (‘EULA’) in dependence upon clause identification rules may be carried out by identifying keywords in the existing end-user license agreement (‘EULA’) predetermined to be associated with a known clause in end-user license agreements; and identifying the known licensing clause in dependence upon the keywords.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically,methods, systems, and products for creating a virtual license documentfor material subject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’).

2. Description of Related Art

Employees often have the ability to access material subject to end-userlicense agreements (‘EULAs’) despite employer policies which may preventor limit the employees' permitted use of that material. Often within acompany, or other large organizations, the current process for gainingaccess to material governed by an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’)generally involves a user contacting their legal representative andproviding legal representative with detailed data (company name,document location, license location) about the material they are tryingto access and the governing EULA. The legal representative thentypically reviews the EULA requiring the legal representative to pourthrough pages of license information to determine the issues andconsequences of granting access to the new material. Even if the same orsimilar EULA has been previously approved, it can take hours or evendays to get the approval from the legal representative using this manualprocess. If the license has not already been approved, this process cantake days or even weeks, which can cost companies dearly in time tomarket for their products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary methods, systems, and products are described for creating avirtual license document for material subject to an end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’). Embodiments include identifying a licensing clausefor the virtual license document; creating metadata describing thelicensing clause; and inserting in a markup document the licensingclause and the metadata describing the clause. Identifying a licensingclause for the virtual license document may be carried out byidentifying a known licensing clause in an existing end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’) in dependence upon licensing clause identificationrules. Identifying a known clause in an existing end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’) in dependence upon clause identification rules may becarried out by identifying keywords in the existing end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’) predetermined to be associated with a known clause inend-user license agreements; and identifying the known licensing clausein dependence upon the keywords. Identifying a licensing clause for thevirtual license document may include receiving a clause for an end-userlicense agreement from a user.

Creating metadata describing the licensing clause may include selectingone of a plurality of a markup tags identifying a licensing clause type.Creating metadata describing the clause may also include creating amarkup tag identifying a licensing clause type.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generallyrepresent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 sets forth a network diagram illustrating an exemplary system foradministration of end-user license agreements.

FIG. 2 sets forth a block diagram of an exemplary system foradministration of end-user license agreements.

FIG. 3 sets forth a block diagram of an exemplary system for creatingrules for the administration of end-user license agreements.

FIG. 4 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinerycomprising an exemplary computer useful in administration of end-userlicense agreements.

FIG. 5 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinerycomprising an exemplary license administration server useful in creatingrules for the administration of end-user license agreements.

FIG. 6 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for administration of end-user licenseagreements.

FIG. 7 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for determining whether terms of a EULA areacceptable.

FIG. 8 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for determining whether modified licenseterms apply to the material subject to the EULA.

FIG. 9 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method foridentifying whether material is subject to an end-user license agreement(‘EULA’).

FIG. 10 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for creating rules for the administration ofend-user license agreements.

FIG. 11 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for creating rules for the administration ofend-user license agreements.

FIG. 12 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for creating a virtual license document formaterial subject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’).

FIG. 13 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method foridentifying a licensing clause for the virtual license document.

FIG. 14 sets forth flow chart illustrating another exemplary method foridentifying a licensing clause for the virtual license document.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Exemplary Architecture

Exemplary methods, systems, and products for administration of end-userlicense agreements according to embodiments of the present invention aredescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, beginning withFIG. 1. FIG. 1 sets forth a network diagram illustrating an exemplarysystem for administering end-user license agreements according toembodiments of the present invention. The system of FIG. 1 operatesgenerally to administer end-user license agreements according toembodiments of the present invention by receiving license data in aresponse to a user's request for access to material subject to anend-user license agreement (‘EULA’), determining, in dependence upon thelicense data and one or more license administration rules, whether termsof the EULA are acceptable, and indicating to the user whether the termsof the EULA are acceptable. A ‘EULA’ refers to any licensing agreement.EULAs typically govern use, access, distribution, replication of thematerial subject to the EULA. EULAs are also sometimes referred tosimply as licenses, or software licenses, although the term ‘softwarelicense’ in this context is not intended to limit the term to executablesoftware only, rather the term is used broadly to include any materialthat may be subject to a license and accessible using computingmachinery.

The arrangement of servers and other devices making up the exemplarysystem illustrated in FIG. 1 are for explanation, not for limitation.Data processing systems useful according to various embodiments of thepresent invention may include additional servers, routers, otherdevices, and peer-to-peer architectures, not shown in FIG. 1, as willoccur to those of skill in the art. Networks in such data processingsystems may support many data communications protocols, including forexample TCP/IP, HTTP, WAP, HDTP, and others as will occur to those ofskill in the art. Various embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented on a variety of hardware platforms in addition to thoseillustrated in FIG. 1.

The system of FIG. 1 includes several exemplary client devices connectedthrough a network of interest (101) and wide area network (103) to asource server (105). The client computers in the example of FIG. 1include a personal computer (108) connected to network of interest (101)through wire line connection (120), a wireless, network-enabled personaldigital assistant (‘PDA’) (112) connected to network of interest (101)through wireless connection (114), and mobile telephone (110) connectedto network of interest (101) through wireless connection (116). In thesystem of FIG. 1, network of interest (101) is a network of commonlycontrolled devices. That is, the network of interest includes devicesthat are owned or operated by a common entity, such as a network of acompany, or a network of a division of a company.

Client computers are computers capable of interacting with a user andwith other computer devices. The client computers of FIG. 1 each haveinstalled upon them a license administration module capable generally ofreceiving, in a response to a user's request for access to materialsubject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’), license data andindicating to the user whether the terms of the EULA are acceptable. Inthe example of FIG. 1, the license administration module installed onthe client computers are capable of sending license data to the licenseadministration server (106) and receiving from the licenseadministration server a determination whether or not the EULA isacceptable. ‘License data’ refers to information about a EULA. Thelicense data may include, for example, the text of EULA, metadataregarding the EULA, program code configured to allow the user to viewthe EULA and to accept or reject the EULA or any other informationdescribing the EULA governing the requested material.

The license administration server (106) of FIG. 1 has installed on it alicense administration module capable generally of determining whetherterms of a EULA are acceptable in dependence upon license data and oneor more license administration rules. The license administration moduleof the license administration server (106) may also be configured tocreate rules for the administration of EULAs by identifying a licenseadministration pattern from historical license data, and creating alicense administration rule in dependence upon the licenseadministration pattern.

License administration rules are conditional expressions whichindividually or collectively establish conditions for accepting orrejecting a EULA. A simple example of license administration rules isshown below for further explanation:

Rule = acceptable license source   IF license source = Company X    THEN license acceptable.

The example above sets forth a license administration rule entitled“acceptable license source”. The administration rule includes thecondition “IF license source=Company X”. If the license data indicatesthat the EULA is from a source called “Company X,” then the exemplarylicense administration rule dictates that the license is acceptable.

The license administration server (106) of FIG. 1 also has installed onit a license identification module, computer program instructions foridentifying whether the material is subject to an end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’). The license identification module is capablegenerally of receiving a response to a request for the material;determining whether the content of the response contains predefinedlicense identification metadata; and determining in dependence upon thepredefined license identification metadata that the requested materialis subject a EULA if the content of the response contains predefinedlicense identification metadata. The license identification module ofFIG. 1 is also capable of searching the content of the response forpredefined licensing keywords if the contents of the response does notcontain predefined license identification metadata; and determining thatthe requested material is subject a EULA if the content of the responsecontains predefined licensing keywords.

In the system of FIG. 1, a source server (105) is connected to a widearea network (‘WAN’) (103) which is connected to network of interest(101). Source server (105) is a server providing material (442) subjectto a EULA and license data (418) regarding the EULA. The source server(105) of FIG. 1 is capable generally of responding to requests to accessthe material (442) subject to a EULA and sending license data (418). Thesource server (105) of FIG. 1 is typically configured to inhibit accessto the material (442) subject to a EULA unless the user accepts theEULA.

Each of the computers (108, 112, 110, 105, and 106) of FIG. 1 are alsocapable of supporting a virtual license document creation tool, computerprogram instructions for creating a virtual license document formaterial subject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’). A virtuallicense document is a document including one or more licensing clausegoverning the particular material and metadata describing the licensingclause. Such a virtual license document may be implemented as a markupdocument containing both a licensing clause in text and markupdescribing the clause. Such a virtual license document is useful in theadministration of end-user license agreements according to embodimentsof the present invention. Virtual license document creation toolsaccording to the present invention are capable generally of identifyinga licensing clause for a virtual license document; creating metadatadescribing the licensing clause; and inserting in a markup document thelicensing clause and the metadata describing the clause.

The arrangement of servers and other devices making up the exemplarysystem illustrated in FIG. 1 are for explanation, not for limitation.Data processing systems useful according to various embodiments of thepresent invention may include additional servers, routers, otherdevices, and peer-to-peer architectures, not shown in FIG. 1, as willoccur to those of skill in the art. Networks in such data processingsystems may support many data communications protocols, including forexample TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), IP (Internet Protocol),HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), WAP (Wireless Access Protocol), HDTP(Handheld Device Transport Protocol), and others as will occur to thoseof skill in the art. Various embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented on a variety of hardware platforms in addition to thoseillustrated in FIG. 1.

For further explanation, FIG. 2 sets forth a block diagram of anexemplary system for identifying whether the material (442) is subjectto a EULA and administering EULAs according to embodiments of thepresent invention. The system of FIG. 2 is capable of identifyingwhether the material is subject to a EULA by receiving a response to arequest for the material; determining whether the content of theresponse contains predefined license identification metadata; anddetermining in dependence upon the predefined license identificationmetadata that the requested material is subject a EULA if the content ofthe response contains predefined license identification metadata. Thesystem of FIG. 2 is also capable of searching the content of theresponse for predefined licensing keywords if the contents of theresponse does not contain predefined license identification metadata;and determining that the requested material is subject a EULA if thecontent of the response contains predefined licensing keywords.

The system of FIG. 2 is capable of administering end-user licenseagreements according to embodiments of the present invention byreceiving license data (418) in a response to a user's request foraccess to material (442) subject to a EULA, determining whether terms ofthe EULA are acceptable, in dependence upon the license data (418) andone or more license administration rules (416), and indicating to theuser whether the terms of the EULA are acceptable.

The system of FIG. 2 includes a user computer (200) which includes oneor more application programs (208), computer program instructions thatenable a user to access, display, and interact with material that may besubject to a EULA such as files hosted by servers, held in a filesystems, or other material as will occur to those of skill in the art.One example of application programs (208) useful in accessing materialsubject to EULAs is a browser, computer program instructions foraccessing, displaying or interacting with files hosted by a server orheld in a file system. Browsers available for personal computers includeMicrosoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Safari. Anotherexample of an application program useful in accessing material subjectto EULAs is an installation program, computer program instructions forinstalling computer programs onto user computer (200). Installationprograms available for personal computers include InstallShield,InstallAnywhere, and Microsoft Windows Installer. Browsers andinstallation programs are included for explanation and not forlimitation. In fact, many applications are capable of requesting andreceiving material subject to a EULA and all such programs may be usedwith the present invention. In response to the request for access to thematerial, the source (126) sends license data (418) to a licenseadministration module (206) also installed on the user computer (200).License administration module (206) includes a license identificationmodule (204), computer program instructions for identifying whether thematerial is subject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’). Thelicense identification module is capable generally of receiving aresponse to a request for the material; determining whether the contentof the response contains predefined license identification metadata; anddetermining in dependence upon the predefined license identificationmetadata that the requested material is subject a EULA if the content ofthe response contains predefined license identification metadata. Thelicense identification module of FIG. 2 is also capable of searching thecontent of the response for predefined licensing keywords if thecontents of the response does not contain predefined licenseidentification metadata; and determining that the requested material issubject a EULA if the content of the response contains predefinedlicensing keywords.

License administration module (206) also includes a license analysismodule (202), computer program instructions for determining, independence upon the license data (418) and one or more licenseadministration rules (416), whether terms of the EULA are acceptable. Inthe example of FIG. 2, the license analysis module (202) retrieveslicense administration rules (416) from a database (210). In the systemof FIG. 2, the license analysis module (202) is also capable ofretrieving a user profile (420) for the user operating the applicationprogram (208) and determining, in dependence upon the license data(418), the license administration rules (416) and the user profile,whether terms of the EULA are acceptable. Upon determining whether termsof the EULA are acceptable, the license administration module is capableof indicating to a user whether the terms of the EULA are acceptable.

For further explanation, FIG. 3 sets forth a block diagram of anexemplary system for creating rules for the administration of end-userlicense agreements according to embodiments of the present invention.The system of FIG. 3 operates generally to create license administrationrules (220) according to embodiments of the present invention byidentifying a license administration pattern from historical licensedata (302), and creating a license administration rule (220) independence upon the license administration pattern.

The system of FIG. 3 includes a user computer (200) having applicationprograms (208). In the system of FIG. 3, application programs (208)request access to material subject to a EULA (442) from a source (126),such as source server (105 in FIG. 1), often based on input from a user.In response to the request for access to the material subject to theEULA, source (126) sends license data (418) to the licenseadministration module (206). Application programs (208) mayalternatively request access to material subject to a EULA (442) alreadydownloaded to the same computer on which the application programs arerunning. That is, material subject to a EULA may already reside on thecomputer on which the application programs are running.

License administration module (206) of FIG. 3 includes a log module(216), computer program instructions for recording license data (418) ina memory. In the example of FIG. 3, log module (216) of licenseadministration module (206) records the received license data (418) in adatabase (210).

The system of FIG. 3 also includes a license administration server (106)in communication with the database (210). License administration server(106) has installed upon it a license administration module (183)including a data mining module (212), computer program instructions foridentifying a license administration pattern from historical licensedata (302), and creating a license administration rule (220) independence upon the license administration pattern. One example ofoff-the-shelf data mining software suitable for use as data miningmodule (212) is IBM'® “Intelligent Miner.” “Intelligent Miner” can beoperated in several computing environments including AIX, AS/400, andOS/390. The Intelligent Miner is an enterprise data mining tool,designed for client/server configurations and optimized to mine verylarge data sets, such as gigabyte data sets. The Intelligent Minerincludes a plurality of data mining techniques or tools used to analyzelarge databases and provides visualization tools used to view andinterpret the different mining results.

The license administration module (183) of FIG. 3 also includes a rulecomparator module (214), computer program instructions for determiningwhether one or more new license administration rules (220) supersede oneor more old license administration rules (218). An old licenseadministration rule is any existing license administration rule. Theterm ‘old’ is not used to indicate any requirement of age and is usedherein to distinguish such an existing license administration rule froma newly created license administration rule. A new licenseadministration rule supersedes an old license administration rule if aEULA rejected by the new license administration rule is acceptable underan old license administration rule, or if a EULA acceptable under thenew license administration rule is rejected by the old licenseadministration rule. If rule comparator module (214) determines that oneor more new license administration rules (220) supersede one or more oldlicense administration rules (218), license administration module (183)may execute an action, such as for example, deleting one or moresuperseded rules.

The user computer (200) of FIG. 3 also includes a virtual licensedocument creation tool (209), computer program instructions for creatinga virtual license document for material subject to an end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’). A virtual license document is a document includingone or more licensing clause governing the particular material andmetadata describing the licensing clause. Such a virtual licensedocument may be implemented as a markup document containing both alicensing clause in text and markup describing the clause. Such avirtual license document is useful in the administration of end-userlicense agreements according to embodiments of the present invention.The virtual license document creation tool of FIG. 3 is capablegenerally of identifying a licensing clause for a virtual licensedocument; creating metadata describing the licensing clause; andinserting in a markup document the licensing clause and the metadatadescribing the clause.

Administering end-user license agreements in accordance with the presentinvention is generally implemented with computers, that is, withautomated computing machinery. For further explanation, therefore, FIG.4 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinery comprisingan exemplary client computer (152) useful in administering EULAsaccording to embodiments of the present invention. Client computer (152)of FIG. 4 includes at least one computer processor (156) or ‘CPU’ aswell as random access memory (168) (“RAM”) which is connected through asystem bus (160) to processor (156) and to other components of thecomputer.

Stored in RAM (168) are application programs (208), computer programinstructions that enable a user to access, display and interact withmaterial that may be subject to a EULA such as files hosted by servers,held in a file systems, or other material as will occur to those ofskill in the art. Also in stored RAM (168) is a license administrationmodule (206), a set of computer program instructions improved foradministering EULAs according to embodiments of the present invention.

The license administration module (206) of FIG. 4 includes a licenseidentification module (204), computer program instructions foridentifying whether the material is subject to a EULA. The licenseidentification module is capable generally of receiving a response to arequest for the material; determining whether the content of theresponse contains predefined license identification metadata; anddetermining in dependence upon the predefined license identificationmetadata that the requested material is subject a EULA if the content ofthe response contains predefined license identification metadata. Thelicense identification module of FIG. 2 is also capable of searching thecontent of the response for predefined licensing keywords if thecontents of the response does not contain predefined licenseidentification metadata; and determining that the requested material issubject a EULA if the content of the response contains predefinedlicensing keywords.

The license administration module (206) of FIG. 4 also includes alicense analysis module (202), computer program instructions fordetermining, in dependence upon license data and one or more licenseadministration rules (416), whether terms of the EULA are acceptable.License administration module (206) also includes a log module (216),computer program instructions for recording license data.

Also stored in RAM is a virtual license document creation tool (209),computer program instructions for creating a virtual license documentfor material subject to a EULA. The virtual license document creationtool of FIG. 4 is capable generally of identifying a licensing clausefor a virtual license document; creating metadata describing thelicensing clause; and inserting in a markup document the licensingclause and the metadata describing the clause.

Also stored in RAM (168) is an operating system (154). Operating systemsuseful in computers according to embodiments of the present inventioninclude UNIX™, Linux™, Microsoft Windows XP™, AIX™, IBM's i5/OS™, andothers as will occur to those of skill in the art. Operating system(154), application programs (208), license administration module (206),license identification module (204), license analysis module (202), andlog module (216) in the example of FIG. 4 are shown in RAM (168), butmany components of such software typically are stored in non-volatilememory (166) also.

Client computer (152) of FIG. 4 includes non-volatile computer memory(166) coupled through a system bus (160) to processor (156) and to othercomponents of the computer (152). Non-volatile computer memory (166) maybe implemented as a hard disk drive (170), optical disk drive (172),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory space (so-called‘EEPROM’ or ‘Flash’ memory) (174), RAM drives (not shown), or as anyother kind of computer memory as will occur to those of skill in theart.

The example client computer of FIG. 4 includes one or more input/outputinterface adapters (178). Input/output interface adapters in computersimplement user-oriented input/output through, for example, softwaredrivers and computer hardware for controlling output to display devices(180) such as computer display screens, as well as user input from userinput devices (181) such as keyboards and mice.

The exemplary client computer (152) of FIG. 4 includes a communicationsadapter (167) for implementing data communications (184) with othercomputers, such as source server (105) and license administration server(106). Such data communications may be carried out serially throughRS-232 connections, through external buses such as USB, through datacommunications networks such as IP networks, and in other ways as willoccur to those of skill in the art. Communications adapters implementthe hardware level of data communications through which one computersends data communications to another computer, directly or through anetwork. Examples of communications adapters useful for determiningavailability of a destination according to embodiments of the presentinvention include modems for wired dial-up communications, Ethernet(IEEE 802.3) adapters for wired network communications, and 802.11badapters for wireless network communications.

For further explanation, FIG. 5 sets forth a block diagram of automatedcomputing machinery comprising an exemplary license administrationserver (106) the administration of end-user license agreements accordingto embodiments of the present invention. License administration server(106) of FIG. 5 includes at least one computer processor (156) or ‘CPU’as well as random access memory (168) (“RAM”) which is connected througha system bus (160) to processor (156) and to other components of thecomputer.

Stored in RAM (168) is a license administration module (183), computerprogram instructions for administration of EULAs according toembodiments of the present invention. In the exemplary computer of FIG.5, license administration module (183) is implemented as server-sideapplication that interacts with one or more client agents on clientcomputers of a network of interest to administer EULAs according to someembodiments of the present invention. License administration module(183) includes a data mining module (212), computer program instructionsfor identifying license administration patterns from historical licensedata (302), and creating license administration rules (416) independence upon the license administration patterns. Licenseadministration module (183) also includes a rule comparator module(214), computer program instructions for determining whether one or morenew license administration rules supersede one or more old licenseadministration rules.

Also stored in RAM (168) is an operating system (154). Operating systemsuseful in computers according to embodiments of the present inventioninclude UNIX™, Linux™, Microsoft Windows XP™, AIX™, IBM's i5/OS™, andothers as will occur to those of skill in the art. Operating system(154), license administration module (183), data mining module (212),and rule comparator module (214) in the example of FIG. 5 are shown inRAM (168), but many components of such software typically are stored innon-volatile memory (166) also.

License administration server (106) of FIG. 5 includes non-volatilecomputer memory (166) coupled through a system bus (160) to processor(156) and to other components of the computer (152 in FIG. 4).Non-volatile computer memory (166) may be implemented as a hard diskdrive (170), optical disk drive (172), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory space (so-called ‘EEPROM’ or ‘Flash’memory) (174), RAM drives (not shown), or as any other kind of computermemory as will occur to those of skill in the art.

The exemplary license administration server (106) of FIG. 5 includes oneor more input/output interface adapters (178). Input/output interfaceadapters in computers implement user-oriented input/output through, forexample, software drivers and computer hardware for controlling outputto display devices (180) such as computer display screens, as well asuser input from user input devices (181) such as keyboards and mice.

The exemplary license administration server (106) of FIG. 5 includes acommunications adapter (167) for implementing data communications (184)with other computers (182). Such data communications may be carried outthrough serially through RS-232 connections, through external buses suchas USB, through data communications networks such as IP networks, and inother ways as will occur to those of skill in the art. Communicationsadapters implement the hardware level of data communications throughwhich one computer sends data communications to another computer,directly or through a network. Examples of communications adaptersuseful for determining availability of a destination according toembodiments of the present invention include modems for wired dial-upcommunications, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) adapters for wired networkcommunications, and 802.11b adapters for wireless networkcommunications.

Administering End User License Agreements

For further explanation, FIG. 6 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary computer-implemented method for administration of EULAsaccording to embodiments of the present invention that includesreceiving (406), in a response (404) to a user's request (402) foraccess to material (442) subject to EULA (432), license data (418). Inthe example of FIG. 6, the material (442) is subject to a EULA (432). Asdiscussed above, a ‘EULA’ refers to any licensing agreement. EULAstypically govern use, access, distribution, replication of the materialsubject to the EULA. EULAs are also sometimes referred to simply aslicenses, or software licenses, although the term ‘software license’ inthis context is not intended to limit the term to executable softwareonly, rather the term is used broadly to include any material that maybe subject to a license and accessible using computing machinery.

The user (712) typically requests access to the material (442) subjectto the EULA (432) by sending a request from the user's computer to asource server (401), which regulates access to the requested material(442). When access to the material is subject to the EULA, sourceservers generally reply to the request (402) to access the material bysending license data (418). License data is information describing theEULA governing the use of the requested material. License data mayinclude, for example, the text of the EULA, metadata regarding the EULA,program code configured to allow the user to view the EULA and to acceptor reject the EULA or any other information describing the EULAgoverning the use of the requested material.

License data may in some cases be included with the terms of the EULA,such as in the case of virtual license documents. A virtual licensedocument is a document including one or more licensing clause governingthe particular material and metadata describing the licensing clause.Such a virtual license document may be implemented as a markup documentcontaining both a licensing clause in text and markup describing theclause. Such a virtual license document is useful in the administrationof end-user license agreements according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

The method of FIG. 6 also includes identifying (408) the license data(418) in the response (404) to the user's request for access to thematerial subject to the EULA. Identifying (408) the license data in theresponse (404) to the user's request for access to the material subjectto the EULA may be carried out by monitoring responses to requests foraccess to the material made to source computers outside the immediatecontrol of an organization administering end-user license agreementsaccording to the present invention. A license administration module,installed as a plug-in in the application program or as an agentapplication on the user's computer, may be programmed to interceptinformation received in response to requests for material from sourcesoutside the control of the user's organization to determine if theresponse includes license data indicating that the requested material issubject to a EULA.

The method of FIG. 6 also includes determining (434), in dependence uponthe license data (418) and one or more license administration rules(416), whether terms of the EULA are acceptable. Determining whetherterms of the EULA are acceptable may be carried out by determiningwhether one or more conditions defined in one or more licenseadministration rules (416) for accepting a EULA are met. Determiningwhether terms of the EULA are acceptable may also include determiningwhether one or more conditions defined in one or more licenseadministration rules for rejecting a EULA are met.

In the method of FIG. 6, determining whether terms of the EULA areacceptable is also dependent upon a user profile (420) of the user. Thatis, in the method of FIG. 6, a user profile (420) for the user (712)requesting access to the material subject to the EULA is referenced todetermine if EULA should be accepted or rejected. User profilestypically include information such as user identification, useremployment position, user permissions, and other information useful indetermining whether the terms of the EULA are acceptable for theparticular requesting user.

If the terms of the EULA (432) are acceptable, the method of FIG. 6 alsoincludes indicating (436) to the user that the terms of the EULA areacceptable. Indicating (436) to the user that terms of the EULA areacceptable may be carried out by displaying a message to the user (712)indicating that the terms of the EULA are acceptable. Such a message mayinclude an instruction to the user to accept the EULA, or otherinstruction as will occur to those of skill in the art.

If the terms of the EULA (432) are not acceptable, the method of FIG. 6also includes indicating (437) to the user that the terms of the EULAare not acceptable. Indicating (437) to the user that terms of the EULAare not acceptable may be carried out by displaying a message to theuser (712) indicating that the terms of the EULA are not acceptable.Such a message may include an instruction to the user to reject theEULA, or other instruction as will occur to those of skill in the art.

If the terms of the EULA (432) are not acceptable, the method of FIG. 6alternatively also includes accessing (438) the material (442) subjectto the EULA from an alternate source (446) where accessing the materialfrom the alternate source is subject to an acceptable EULA (444).Accessing (438) the material (442) subject to the EULA from an alternatesource (446) may be carried out by, for example, a licenseadministration plug-in capable of directing the user to the alternatesource, accessing the material (442) from the alternate source (446),and displaying the material (442) in the user's browser. Alternately,accessing (438) the material subject to the EULA (442) from an alternatesource (446) may be carried out providing a user with a hyperlink to thealternate source (446) or in other ways as will occur to those of skillin the art.

For further explanation, FIG. 7 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary computer-implemented method for determining whether terms of aEULA are acceptable according to embodiments of the present invention.The method of FIG. 7 includes receiving (406) license data (418) anddetermining (604) whether the received license data (418) matcheslicense data (412) for EULAs predetermined as acceptable (410).Determining (604) whether the received license data (418) matcheslicense data (412) for EULAs predetermined as acceptable may be carriedout by comparing the metadata received in the license data (418)identifying individual terms of the EULA or identifying a particularEULA with metadata in approved license data (412) for acceptable EULAs(410) stored in a database. Alternatively, determining (604) whether thereceived license data (418) matches license data (412) for EULAspredetermined as acceptable may be carried out by comparing the EULAword-for-word or term-by-term with license data (412) includingacceptable EULAs or terms of acceptable EULAs (410).

If the received license data matches license data for EULAspredetermined to be acceptable, then the method of FIG. 7 includesindicating (433) to the user that the terms of the EULA are acceptable.Indicating (433) to the user that terms of the EULA are acceptable maybe carried out by displaying a message to the user indicating that theterms of the EULA are acceptable. Such a message may include aninstruction to the user to accept the EULA, or other instruction as willoccur to those of skill in the art.

If the received license data does not match license data for EULAspredetermined to be acceptable, then the method of FIG. 7 includesindicating (440) to the user that the terms of the EULA are notacceptable. Indicating (440) to the user that terms of the EULA are notacceptable may be carried out by displaying a message to the userindicating that the terms of the EULA are acceptable. Such a message mayinclude an instruction to the user to accept the EULA, or otherinstruction as will occur to those of skill in the art.

The method of FIG. 7 also includes inhibiting (422) the user's access tothe material governed by the EULA if the terms of the EULA are notacceptable. Inhibiting (422) the user's access to the material subjectto the EULA may be carried out by blocking access to the source serverassociated with the material subject to the EULA. Inhibiting (422) theuser's access to the material subject to the EULA may also be carriedout by automatically rejecting the EULA, for example, by sending amessage directly to the source server to reject the EULA withoutintervention by the user, or in other ways as will occur to those ofskill in the art.

For further explanation, FIG. 8 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary computer-implemented method for determining whether modifiedlicense terms apply to the material subject to the EULA according toembodiments of the present invention. The method of FIG. 8 includesreceiving (406) license data (418) and identifying (424) license terms(430) of a EULA (432) in dependence upon the license data. In theexample of FIG. 8, the license data (418) includes the actual terms ofthe EULA itself.

The method of FIG. 8 also includes determining (434) whether the terms(430) of the EULA (432) are acceptable. If the terms of the EULA areacceptable, then the method includes indicating (433) to the user thatthe terms of the EULA are acceptable.

If the terms of the EULA are not acceptable, the method of FIG. 8 alsoincludes determining (702) whether modified licensing terms (710) applyto the material subject to the end-user license (432). Determining (702)whether modified licensing terms (710) apply to the material subject tothe end-user license (432) may be carried out, for example, bydetermining whether access to the same material has been approved underterms different than those included in the EULA (432).

If no modified terms apply to the material subject to the EULA, themethod of FIG. 8 includes indicating (440) to the user that the terms ofthe EULA are not acceptable. Indicating to the user that terms of theEULA are not acceptable may be carried out by displaying a message tothe user indicating that the terms of the EULA are not acceptable. Sucha message may include an instruction to the user to reject the EULA, orother instruction as will occur to those of skill in the art.

If modified license terms do apply to the material subject to the EULA,the method of FIG. 8 includes modifying (704) the terms of the EULA(432). Modifying the terms of the EULA may be carried out bysubstituting modified license terms (710) for terms within the EULA(432), by appending modified license terms (710) to the EULA (432), byentirely replacing the EULA (432) with the modified license terms (710),or other such methods as will be apparent to those of skill in the art.

The method of FIG. 8 also includes presenting (708) the modified EULA(706) to the user (712). Presenting (708) the modified EULA (706) to theuser (712) informs the user that the modified EULA (706) governs accessto the material requested by the user. Since the modified EULA (706) wasmodified based on pre-approved modified license terms (710), displayingthe modified EULA (706) implicitly indicates to the user (712) that theterms of the modified EULA are acceptable.

For further explanation, consider the following example. A company hasnegotiated a license with a source of material subject to a EULA for itsemployees to access the material. The negotiated license is differentthan another EULA available to the general public for access to samematerial. In this example, in response to the user's request to accessthe material and in response to receiving the EULA available to thegeneral public, terms of the modified license already negotiated withthe source of the material are substituted for the terms of the EULAavailable to the general public.

Identifying Whether Material is Subject to an End-User License Agreement

As discussed above administering end-user license agreements istypically carried out in dependence upon license data. ‘License data’refers to information about a EULA. The license data may include, forexample, the text of a EULA, metadata regarding the EULA, program codeconfigured to allow the user to view the EULA and to accept or rejectthe EULA or any other information describing the EULA governing therequested material. In the examples above, license data is explicitlyreceived in response to a user request for material subject to a EULA.In some embodiments of the present invention, however, also includesdetermining whether the requested material is itself subject to a EULA.That is, prior to determining whether the terms of a EULA areacceptable, a determination is made that the requested material is infact subject to a EULA.

For further explanation, FIG. 9 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary method for identifying whether requested material (902) issubject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’). In the example ofFIG. 9, the requested material (902) is available at a universalresource locator (‘URL’) on a source sever (905). The method of FIG. 9includes requesting (906) material from source server (905) andreceiving (910) a response (912) to a request (904) for the material(902).

The method of FIG. 9 also includes determining (914) whether the contentof the response (912) contains predefined license identificationmetadata. Such predefined license identification metadata identifies therequested material as being subject to a EULA. Such predefined licenseidentification metadata may be included in the response for therequested material in a predefined location. One way of includingpredefined license identification metadata in a response for a requestfor material subject to a EULA may be carried out by inserting a valuein an HTTP header field. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is anapplication-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermediainformation systems. HTTP is a generic, stateless, protocol which can beused for many tasks beyond its use for hypertext through extension ofits request methods, error codes and headers. The standard HTTP 1.1protocol supports a general header field called the ‘Pragma’ headerfield. The Pragma header is used to include implementation specificdirectives that may apply to any recipient along the HTTPrequest/response chain. Such implementation specific directives ofteninclude information not formally defined in the HTTP specification. Themost commonly value used by a Pragma header is ‘nocache’ which instructsa supporting web client to not cache the content contained in the HTTPmessage.

Another way of determining (914) whether the content of the response(912) contains predefined license identification metadata includesdetermining whether the response contains predefined licenseidentification metadata in a markup document contained within in theresponse. A markup document containing predefined license identificationmetadata may be implemented as a virtual license document including oneor more licensing clause governing the particular material and markupimplementing metadata describing the licensing clause discussed belowwith reference to FIGS. 12, 13, and 14. Alternatively, a markup documentcontaining predefined license identification metadata may be a separatemarkup document including markup identifying the requested material issubject to a EULA. Consider for further explanation the followingsnippet of an exemplary markup document containing predefined licenseidentification metadata.

<License Identification Markup Document>   <Material= Resource ID 1234 >  <EULA=True > </license Identification Markup Document>

In the example above, the markup tags <License Identification MarkupDocument> and </license Identification Markup Document> identify themarkup document as a license identification markup document. The<Material=Resource ID 1234> tag identifies the requested material asresource ID 1234 and the <EULA=True> tag implements metadata identifyingthat resource ID 1234 is subject to a EULA.

If the content of the response (912) contains predefined licenseidentification metadata, the method of FIG. 9 also includes determining(916) in dependence upon the predefined license identification metadatathat the requested material (902) is subject a EULA. That is, the factthat the predefined license identification metadata is contained in theresponse is taken as an indication that the requested material issubject to a EULA.

The method of FIG. 9 also includes notifying (926) a user (924) that therequested material is subject to a EULA if the content of the responsecontains predefined license identification metadata. Notifying (926) auser (924) that the requested material is subject to a EULA may becarried out by displaying a notification on the user's computer, sendingan electronic message to the user, for example, an email message, makinga log entry in an identified log, and in other ways as will occur tothose of skill in the art.

In addition to notifying the user if the content of the responsecontains predefined license identification metadata, licenseadministration personnel may also be notified. Notifying licenseadministration personnel if the content of the response containspredefined license identification metadata may be carried out bydisplaying a notification on a license administrators computer, sendingan electronic message to a license administrator, for example, an emailmessage, making a log entry in an identified log available to licenseadministration personnel, and in other ways as will occur to those ofskill in the art.

As discussed above, in some cases no predefined license identificationmetadata is included in the response. The method of FIG. 9 also includessearching (918) the content of the response (912) for predefinedlicensing keywords if the contents of the response does not containpredefined license identification metadata and determining (920) whetherthe response contains predefined licensing keywords. ‘Keywords’ refersto individual words or groups of words that may be commonly found in orassociated with EULAs. Examples of such keywords that may be associatedwith EULAs include “must accept,” “indemnify,” “license,” “terms andconditions,” and so on. The presence of such keywords in the responsemay indicate that the material is subject to an EULA.

The method of FIG. 9 also includes determining (916) that the requestedmaterial (902) is subject a EULA if the content of the response containsthe predefined licensing keywords. That is, the fact that the predefinedlicensing keywords are contained in the response is taken as anindication that the requested material is subject to a EULA.

The method of FIG. 9 also includes notifying (926) a user (924) that therequested material (902) is subject to a EULA if the content of theresponse (912) contains predefined licensing keywords. As discussedabove, notifying (926) a user (924) that the requested material issubject to a EULA may be carried out by displaying a notification on theuser's computer, sending an electronic message to the user, for example,an email message, making a log entry in an identified log, and in otherways as will occur to those of skill in the art.

In addition to notifying the user if the content of the responsecontains predefined licensing keywords, license administration personnelmay also be notified. Notifying license administration personnel if thecontent of the response contains predefined licensing keywords may becarried out by displaying a notification on a license administratorscomputer, sending an electronic message to a license administrator, forexample, an email message, making a log entry in an identified logavailable to license administration personnel, and in other ways as willoccur to those of skill in the art.

If the content of the response (912) does not contain predefined licenseidentification metadata and does not contain predefined licensingkeywords the method of FIG. 9 the method of FIG. 9 proceeds by providing(922) the requested material to the user. Providing the requestedmaterial to the user may be carried out by displaying, in a browser, therequested material, downloading the material to a user's clientcomputer, or any other way of providing the requested material to a userthat will occur to those of skill in the art.

Creating Rules For The Administration of End User License Agreements

As discussed above, administering end-user license agreements istypically carried out by use of one or more license administrationrules. For further explanation, FIG. 10 sets forth a flow chartillustrating an exemplary computer-implemented method for creating rulesfor the administration of EULAs according to embodiments of the presentinvention. The method of FIG. 10 includes identifying (308), fromhistorical license data (302), a license administration pattern (314). Alicense administration pattern is a trend in the manner in which EULAs,terms in EULAs, or material subject to EULAs are administered for anorganization. Identifying a license administration pattern may becarried out by a user by reviewing previously accepted EULAs andpreviously rejected EULAs and identifies a pattern of licenseadministration.

Requiring a user to review previously accepted and rejected EULAs toidentify license administration patterns may be cumbersome. In themethod of FIG. 10, therefore, identifying (308) a license administrationpattern (314) from historical license data (302) is carried out by datamining (310) a collection of accepted EULAs (304) and data mining (312)a collection of rejected EULAs (306). For the purpose of thisspecification, data mining means analyzing historical license data anddiscovering relationships, patterns, knowledge, or information from thehistorical license data and using the discovered relationships, patternsor knowledge to identify license administration patterns. Many datamining techniques typically include the steps of preparing the data fordata mining, choosing an appropriate data mining algorithm, anddeploying the data mining algorithm.

Preparing the historical license data for data mining includes providinga predetermined structure for the historical license data. Theparticular predetermined structures for each particular kind of licensedata may vary depending on factors such as the type of license data.However, in typical embodiments, each element of license data of a givenkind will share a predefined structure thereby facilitating mining thoselicense data elements for license administration patterns.

Data mining also typically includes choosing an appropriate data miningalgorithm. An appropriate data mining algorithm for discovering licenseadministration patterns will vary on many factors such as the type ofsaved license data available to mine, the available computer softwareand hardware used to carry out the data mining, the size of thecollection of historical license data, or any other factor that willoccur to those of skill in the art. Many data mining algorithms existand all algorithms that appropriately find license administrationpatterns from a collection of historical license data are within thescope of the present invention.

Although many data mining algorithms exist, many of the data miningalgorithms share the same goals. Typical data mining algorithms attemptto solve the problem of being overwhelmed by the volume of data thatcomputers can collect. Data mining algorithms also typically attempt toshield users from the unwieldy body of data by analyzing it, summarizingit, or drawing conclusions from the data that the user can understand.Data mining algorithms also typically attempt to identify patterns inthe data that may be used to develop rules consistent with the patternin order to automate administration of a process which generated thedata, such as a license administration process.

One way of discussing various data mining algorithms is by discussingthe functions that they perform rather than the specifics of theirunderlying mathematical operation. Another way of discussing variousdata mining algorithms is by describing a “rule” returned by the datamining algorithm. A rule is a description of the relationship, pattern,knowledge, or information found by the data mining algorithm. Exemplarydata mining algorithms are explained in this specification by describingthe functions they perform and the rules they return. The followingexamples of data mining algorithms are included in this specificationfor clarity of discussion, not for limitation. Any method of data miningthat will occur to those of skill in the art, regardless of type,classification, or underlying mathematical operation, is within thescope of the present invention.

In some examples, identifying a license administration pattern fromhistorical license data includes data mining with an associationfunction. Association functions are typically used to find patternshaving connected or related events. For example, in the context ofidentifying license administration patterns, data mining withassociation functions may identify a license administration pattern suchas “95% of shareware EULAs that were received were referred to the legaldepartment for individual review.” Such an identified pattern may leadto a rule such as “If a received EULA is for shareware, then the EULAshould be sent to the legal department for review.”

In still other examples, identifying a license administration patternfrom historical license data includes data mining with a classificationoperator. A classification operator is applied to a set of historicallicense data that are organized or ‘tagged’ as belonging to a certainclass, such as for example, historical license data related to opensource software. A classification operator examines the set of taggedlicense data and produces a function that identifies the class. Such aclassification operator can be used, for example, to analyze a EULA thatwas just received to determine a classification to which it belongs. Forexample, the classification operator may analyze the received EULA todetermine if the EULA relates to open source software or not.

In still other examples, identifying a license administration patternfrom historical license data includes data mining with a clusteringoperator. By contrast to data mining with a classification operatorwhose input are a set of tagged data, the inputs to a clusteringoperator are a set of untagged data. That is, no classes are known atthe time the clustering operator is applied. Data mining with a clusteroperator may be used to segment or classify the historical license data,such as by segmenting the license data clauses found in the EULA. Manyof the underlying operations used to build classification operators canalso be used to build clustering operators.

While various data mining algorithms have been discussed separately, inthe various examples above, different data mining algorithms can be usedtogether to identify license administration patterns for the user.Furthermore, any method identifying a subset of the historical licensedata that comprise a license administration pattern is within the scopeof the present invention, not just data mining. In various exemplaryembodiments, identifying a subset of historical license data thatcomprise a license administration pattern includes using datadiscrimination, using artificial intelligence, using machine learning,using pattern recognition, or any method of identifying a subset ofhistorical license data that comprise a license administration patternthat will occur to those of skill in the art.

One example of off-the-shelf data mining software includes IBM'®“Intelligent Miner.” “Intelligent Miner” can be operated in severalcomputing environments including AIX, AS/400, and OS/390. TheIntelligent Miner is an enterprise data mining tool, designed forclient/server configurations and optimized to mine very large data sets,such as gigabyte data sets. The Intelligent Miner includes a pluralityof data mining techniques or tools used to analyze large databases andprovides visualization tools used to view and interpret the differentmining results.

Many data mining processes used to identify license administrationpatterns are statistical or probabilistic. It is therefore possible tofind patterns in the historical license data that have little or nothingto do with approving or rejecting a future EULA. That is, methods usedto find a license administration pattern can return patterns that areunnecessary, undesirable, or inefficient in identifying a rule fordetermining whether terms of a EULA are acceptable. Many examples ofidentifying a license administration pattern from historical licensedata therefore include editing an identified subset of historicallicense data, such as by deleting one or more data elements from thesubset, before defining the license administration pattern.

The method of FIG. 10 also includes creating (316), in dependence uponthe license administration pattern (314), a license administration rule(330). In the method of FIG. 10, creating (316) a license administrationrule (330) includes defining (318), in dependence upon the licenseadministration pattern (314), one or more conditions (320) for acceptinga EULA. For further explanation, consider the following condition ofaccepting a EULA:

IF EULA ID = EULA1234   THEN AcceptCondition = True

In the example above the condition for accepting the EULA is premised onan identification of the EULA. If the EULA ID is ‘EULA1234’ then thecondition for accepting the EULA is met.

In the method of FIG. 10, creating (316) a license administration rule(330) also includes defining (322), in dependence upon the licenseadministration pattern (314), one or more conditions (324) for rejectinga EULA. For further explanation, consider the following condition forrejecting a EULA:

IF EULA includes keyword = ‘arbitration’   THEN acceptCondition = False

In the example above the condition for rejecting the EULA is premised onan identification of the keyword ‘arbitration’ within the EULA. If theword ‘arbitration’ is contained in the EULA, then a condition forrejecting the EULA is met.

In the method of FIG. 10, creating (316) a license administration rule(330) also includes associating (326) an action (328) with the one ormore conditions (320) for accepting a EULA and associating (326) anaction (328) with the one or more conditions (324) for rejecting a EULA.Associating (326) an action (328) with the one or more conditions (320,324) may be carried out by identifying an action for execution when oneor more of the conditions for accepting or rejecting the EULA are met.For further explanation, consider the following condition for acceptancewith an associated action.

IF EULA ID = EULA1234;   THEN AcceptCondition = True   ACTION =sendAcceptMessage( )

In the example above the condition for accepting the EULA is premised onan identification of the EULA. If the EULA ID is ‘EULA1234’ then acondition for accepting the EULA is met and an associated action“SendAcceptMessage( )’ is executed to send a user a message instructingthe user to accept the license.

The method of FIG. 10 also includes determining (334) whether athreshold (332) number of new license administration rules (330) havebeen created executing (336) an action. Determining (334) whether athreshold (332) number of new license administration rules have beencreated may be carried out by comparing a cumulative count of newlicense administration rules (330) to a threshold (332). The thresholdis a configurable, predefined number of new license administration rulesthat must be created before the action is executed.

The action executed (336) is a configurable, predefined action to betaken when the threshold number of new license has been created. Suchactions may advantageously be used to notify users that a number of newlicense administration rules have been created. For furtherclarification, consider the following example. An action is executedthat sends a notification to selected users of a license administrationsystem when more than fifty new license administration rules have beencreated. In this example, the notified users are advised that they mayattempt to retrieve material subject to EULAs that were previouslyrejected.

Because license administration rules governing the administration ofEULAs may change over time, some new license administration rules maysupersede old license administration rules. For further explanation,therefore, FIG. 11 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplarycomputer-implemented method for determining whether one or more newlicense administration rules supersede one or more old licenseadministration rules. An old license administration rule is any existinglicense administration rule. The term ‘old’ is not used to indicate anyrequirement of age and is used herein to distinguish such an existinglicense administration rule from a newly created license administrationrule.

The method of FIG. 11 includes determining (508) whether one or more newlicense administration rules (504) supersede one or more old licenseadministration rules (506). A new license administration rule supersedesan old license administration rule if a EULA rejected by the new licenseadministration rule is acceptable under an old license administrationrule, or if a EULA acceptable under the new license administration ruleis rejected by the old license administration rule. If no new licenseadministration rules supersede old license administration rules, themethod of FIG. 11 ends (510).

The method of FIG. 11 also includes executing (512) an action inresponse to determining (508) that one or more new licenseadministration rules (504) supersede one or more old licenseadministration rules (506). In the exemplary method of FIG. 11,executing (512) an action in response to determining (508) that one ormore new license administration rules (504) supersede one or more oldlicense administration rules (506) includes identifying (518) fromhistorical license data a EULA (522) previously rejected based on one ormore superseded license administration rules and notifying (516) one ormore users of one or more new rules in the method of FIG. 11.

Virtual License Documents

As discussed above, administration of end-user license agreementsaccording to some embodiments of the present invention may be carriedout by use of virtual license documents. A virtual license document is adocument including one or more licensing clause governing the particularmaterial and metadata describing the licensing clause. Such a virtuallicense document may be implemented as a markup document containing botha licensing clause in text and markup describing the clause. Such avirtual license document is useful in the administration of end-userlicense agreements according to embodiments of the present invention.

For further explanation, FIG. 12 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary computer-implemented method for creating a virtual licensedocument for material subject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’).The method of FIG. 12 includes identifying (950) a licensing clause(952) for the virtual license document (960). One way of identifying alicensing clause for the virtual license document may be carried out byidentifying (968) a known licensing clause (952) in an existing end-userlicense agreement (‘EULA’) (964) in dependence upon licensing clauseidentification rules (966) as discussed below with reference to FIG. 13.Another way of identifying a licensing clause for the virtual licensedocument may be carried out by receiving a clause for an end-userlicense agreement from a user as discussed below with reference to FIG.14.

The method of FIG. 12 also includes creating (954) metadata describingthe licensing clause (952). Creating metadata describing the licensingclause may be carried out by selecting one of a plurality of a markuptags identifying a licensing clause type. That is, markup tags may bepredefined for a licensing clause types and made available to users in apackages virtual license creation tool allowing users to select apredefined markup tag and insert the markup tag in a markup document inassociation with the text of the licensing clause. Consider for examplethe following selection of predefined markup tags identifying licensingclause types:

<clause type = arbitration> <clause ID = 1254> <clause = indemnification345>

In this example, three predefined markup tags identifying threelicensing clause types are provided. The first markup tag <clausetype=arbitration> identifies a licensing clause as an arbitrationclause. The second markup tag <clause ID=1254> identifies a uniquelicensing clause having a unique ID of ‘1254’. The third markup tag<clause=indemnification 345> identifies a unique indemnification clause‘indemnification345.’

Creating metadata describing the clause may also be carried out bycreating a markup tag identifying a licensing clause type. That is,virtual creation tools according to embodiments of the present inventionmay provide users with the ability to customize markup tags forparticular licensing clauses. Users may therefore advantageously createcustomized markup tags for particular licensing clauses with increasedgranularity.

The method of FIG. 12 also includes inserting (962) in a markup document(958) the licensing clause (952) and the metadata (956) describing theclause. Inserting (962) in a markup document (958) the licensing clause(952) and the metadata (956) describing the clause may be carried out byincluding in the markup document the text of the licensing clause and,for example, markup describing the licensing clause. For furtherexplanation, consider the following segment of an exemplary virtuallicense document.

<virtual license document>   <VLD ID =890>   <licensor >     <licensorID = 1 >       IBM   </licensor >   <material >     <resource ID =797878 >   </material >         . . .   < arbitration clause >    <clause ID = 678 >       THE TEXT OF SOME ARBITRATION CLAUSE  </arbitration clause>         . . .   < restrictions of use>    <restriction = 1 >       THE TEXT OF SOME RESTRICTION ON THE USE OF      THE MATERIAL   <restriction = 34 >       THE TEXT OF SOMERESTRICTION ON THE USE OF       THE MATERIAL     <restriction = 12 >      THE TEXT OF SOME RESTRICTION ON THE USE OF       THE MATERIAL    <restriction = 1115 >       THE TEXT OF SOME RESTRICTION ON THE USEOF       THE MATERIAL   </restrictions of use> </virtual licensedocument>

In the exemplary segment of a virtual license document above, the<virtual license document> and </virtual license document> markup tagsidentify the markup document as a virtual license document. The <VLDID=890> markup tag identifies the exemplary virtual license documentabove uniquely as having a virtual licensing identification of ‘890.’The <licensor> and </licensor> tags identify a licensor in the virtuallicense document. The <licensor ID=1> markup tag identifies uniquely thelicensor as having a licensor ID of ‘1’ and the display text ‘IBM’provides display text identifying the licensor as ‘IBM.’

In the exemplary segment of the virtual license document above, the<material> and </material> markup tags identify material subject to thevirtual license document implementing a EULA and the <resourceID=797878> identifies that the material subject to the EULA is aresource having a unique identification of ‘797878.’

In the exemplary segment of the virtual license document above, the<arbitration clause> and </arbitration clause> markup tags identify thatthe virtual license document includes an arbitration clause and theparticular arbitration clause is identified by the clause ID ‘678.’ Theexemplary virtual license document also includes four restrictions ofthe use of resource ID ‘797878’ identified by <restrictions of use> and</restrictions of use>. The particular restrictions are identified byrestriction IDs ‘1,’ ‘34,’ ‘12,’ and ‘115.’

As discussed above, creating a virtual license document for materialsubject to an end-user license agreement (‘EULA’) includes identifying alicensing clause for inclusion in the virtual license document. Forfurther explanation, therefore, FIG. 13 sets forth a flow chartillustrating an exemplary method for identifying a licensing clause forthe virtual license document. In the method of FIG. 13, identifying(950) a licensing clause for the virtual license document includesidentifying (968) a known licensing clause (952) in an existing end-userlicense agreement (‘EULA’) (964) in dependence upon licensing clauseidentification rules (966). A known license clause in an existingend-user license agreement is a clause known to an entity seeking tocreate a virtual license document and currently included in a EULA.Clause identification rules (966) are rules designed to select from aknown EULA a particular known licensing clause.

In the method of FIG. 13, identifying (968) a known clause (952) in anexisting end-user license agreement (‘EULA’) (964) in dependence uponclause identification rules (966) includes identifying (980) keywords(972) in the existing end-user license agreement (‘EULA’) (964)predetermined to be associated with a known clause (952) in end-userlicense agreements and identifying (982) the known licensing clause(952) in dependence upon the keywords (972). Consider for example thefollowing licensing clause identification rule.

-   -   If clause includes keyword ‘arbitration;’ AND    -   clause includes keyword ‘American Arbitration Association’ or        ‘AAA,’ then    -   clause ID=165

The exemplary licensing clause identification rule above operates toidentify a licensing clause having licensing clause ID ‘165’ if a clausein an existing EULA from which the virtual license document is beingcreated includes the keyword ‘arbitration’ and either the keyword‘American Arbitration Association’ or the keyword ‘AAA.’ Licensingclause identification rules advantageously provide a vehicle to automatethe creation of virtual license documents from one or more existingEULAs.

Identifying (968) a known clause (952) in an existing end-user licenseagreement (‘EULA’) (964) in dependence upon clause identification rules(966) according to the method of FIG. 13 operates to select knownlicensing clauses in dependence upon keywords. This is for explanation,and not for limitation. Identifying a known licensing clause may becarried out by use of keywords and word proximity, numbers of keywords,or any other way of identifying a known licensing clause that will occurto those of skill in the art.

Licensing clause identification rules advantageously provide a vehicleto automate the creation of virtual license documents from one or moreexisting EULAs. Licensing clauses, known or unknown, may also beprovided by a user rather than from a known and existing EULA. Forfurther explanation, FIG. 14 sets forth flow chart illustrating anotherexemplary method for identifying (950) a licensing clause (952) for thevirtual license document. In the method of FIG. 14 identifying alicensing clause for the virtual license document includes receiving(968) a clause for an end-user license agreement from a user (924).Receiving a clause for an end-user license agreement from a user may becarried out through the use of GUI input widgets in selections screenspresented by a virtual license document creation tool, by receiving asspeech a licensing clause or any other way of receiving a licensingclause from a user that will occur to those of skill in the art.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described largely inthe context of a fully functional computer system for creating a virtuallicense document.

Readers of skill in the art will recognize, however, that the presentinvention also may be embodied in a computer program product disposed onsignal bearing media for use with any suitable data processing system.Such signal bearing media may be transmission media or recordable mediafor machine-readable information, including magnetic media, opticalmedia, or other suitable media. Examples of recordable media includemagnetic disks in hard drives or diskettes, compact disks for opticaldrives, magnetic tape, and others as will occur to those of skill in theart. Examples of transmission media include telephone networks for voicecommunications and digital data communications networks such as, forexample, Ethernets™ and networks that communicate with the InternetProtocol and the World Wide Web. Persons skilled in the art willimmediately recognize that any computer system having suitableprogramming means will be capable of executing the steps of the methodof the invention as embodied in a program product. Persons skilled inthe art will recognize immediately that, although some of the exemplaryembodiments described in this specification are oriented to softwareinstalled and executing on computer hardware, nevertheless, alternativeembodiments implemented as firmware or as hardware are well within thescope of the present invention.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that modificationsand changes may be made in various embodiments of the present inventionwithout departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in thisspecification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention islimited only by the language of the following claims.

1. A computer system configured to process information associated withend-user license agreements (“EULAs”), the computer system comprising:an application program configured to transmit a request for materialsubject to a EULA, wherein the request is associated with a userprofile; a license identification module residing in the computersystem, the license identification module configured to receive, inresponse to the request for material subject to the EULA, a markupdocument including a licensing clause and markup tags that describe thelicensing clause; and determine that the markup document includes themarkup tags that describe the licensing clause; a license analysismodule residing in the computer system, the license analysis moduleconfigured to determine, based at least in part on analysis of themarkup tags, that the licensing clause and the user profile meet of oneor more conditions defined in one or more licensing administrationrules; the license administration rules configured to enumerate the oneor more conditions that indicate the licensing clause is acceptable. 2.The system of claim 1 where the application program includes a licenseadministration module configured to intercept responses to requests thatgo outside an organization, where the requests are for other materialsubject to the EULA.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the markupdocument also includes key words that identify the licensing clause. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the license analysis module is furtherconfigured to present an indication that the licensing clause isacceptable.
 5. A computer-implemented method for processing informationassociated with end-user license agreements (“EULAs”), thecomputer-implemented method comprising: transmitting, over an electroniccomputer network, a request for material subject to a EULA, wherein therequest is associated with a user profile, and wherein the material isfor use with an application program; receiving, by a computing device,in response to the request for material subject to the EULA, a markupdocument including a licensing clause and markup tags that describe thelicensing clause; and determining that the markup document includes themarkup tags that describe the licensing clause; determining, based atleast in part on analysis of the markup tags, that the licensing clauseand the user profile meet of one or more conditions defined in one ormore licensing administration rules, wherein the license administrationrules enumerate the one or more conditions, and wherein the one or moreconditions indicate the licensing clause is acceptable.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: intercepting responses to requests that gooutside an organization, where the requests are for other materialsubject to the EULA.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the markupdocument also includes key words that identify the licensing clause, andwherein the method further includes analyzing the key words.
 8. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the license analysis module is furtherconfigured to present an indication that the licensing clause isacceptable.
 9. One or more machine-readable memory devices having storedtherein a program product, which when executed by a set of one or moreprocessors causes the set of one or more processors to performoperations for processing information associated with end-user licenseagreements (“EULAs”), the operations comprising: transmitting a requestfor material subject to a EULA, wherein the request is associated with auser profile, and wherein the material is for use with an applicationprogram; receiving, in response to the request for material subject tothe EULA, a markup document including a licensing clause and markup tagsthat describe the licensing clause; and determining that the markupdocument includes the markup tags that describe the licensing clause;determining, based at least in part on analysis of the markup tags, thatthe licensing clause and the user profile meet of one or more conditionsdefined in one or more licensing administration rules, wherein thelicense administration rules enumerate the one or more conditions, andwherein the one or more conditions indicate the licensing clause isacceptable.
 10. The one or more machine readable memory devices of claim9, wherein the operations further comprise: intercepting responses torequests that go outside an organization, where the requests are forother material subject to the EULA.
 11. The one or more machine readablememory devices of claim 9, wherein the markup document also includes keywords that identify the licensing clause, and wherein the operationsfurther include analyzing the key words.
 12. The one or more machinereadable memory devices of claim 9, wherein the operations furthercomprise: presenting an indication that the licensing clause isacceptable.